CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Tadd Fujikawa rallied on the front nine yesterday, but his Sony journey was still cut short.

Hot Choi maintains his lead

Goydos and Fujikawa, the big stories from 2007, can't make it into the weekend

Last year's major stories at the $5.3 million Sony Open in Hawaii were yesterday's news by day's end.

Fujikawa needed a round in the mid 60s to play through to the weekend. The only local golfer with that kind of game in his bag yesterday was Parker McLachlin. He birdied the last to shoot a 4-under 66 and finish his first 36 holes in 1-under 139.

He trails second-round leader K.J. Choi by 10 shots after the South Korean fashioned a 5-under 65 early in the day and watched to see if anybody could match his 11-under 129. Kevin Na's 6-under 64 came close as he tees off today just two shots off the pace at 9-under 131.

Steve Marino is another shot back at 8-under 132 after he managed a solid 67 in excellent conditions at Waialae Country Club. The tradewinds swung around to cool things off, but never caused much trouble as 87 golfers shot par or better.

That wound up being the cut, but under new rules this year, those who finished at even-par 140 won't tee it up today. They will receive money and FedExCup points, but you had to shoot at least 1 under to play this weekend.

Dean Wilson's 2-over 142 left him three shots shy of that mark. While he has been among the tour's better players the last three years, he has made the cut at the Sony Open only twice in seven attempts, earning $42,738.

Fujikawa shot a closing 66 last year, including an eagle at the last, to become the youngest player in 50 years to make the cut. He made the turn at 2 under yesterday -- 2 over for the tournament -- but a double bogey at No. 6 (his 15th hole) ended the dream.

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If history is any indication, you can go ahead and give K.J. Choi the Sony Open in Hawaii trophy.

The four previous times that Choi held the lead after 36 holes, he has gone on to win the tournament. He'd like nothing better than to make it a fistful of victories, but he still has at least 36 more holes to negotiate before they'll give him the winner's check.

Na is 9-under 131 for the tournament after opening with a 67 on Thursday and is alone in second. Steve Marino (67) is in third, one shot back, and Funk is tied for fourth with Jimmy Walker (68) at 7-under 133.

Choi has gone against the idea that you have to land the ball in the fairway to shoot a good round here at Waialae. He's found the short grass only 57.1 percent of the time, but has made up for it on the greens, needing only 26 putts a round.

"Yeah, I didn't expect to really play this well," Choi said. "My rhythm overall is really good, and just getting a lot of support from the fans, and it's really making me feel comfortable."

With Na and Choi paired today for only the second time, you have to figure the gallery will be a large one. Na has yet to win on tour, with his best finish coming in 2005 at the FBR Open. He lost to Phil Mickelson, but was paired with Choi in that final round.

Before yesterday's second round, he came out early to practice putting and noticed that Choi had gone low again. He knew right then he would have to do something special to get into contention.

"I saw he finished at 11 (under), and I said, you know what, I'm going to try to get in the final group this week," Na said. "I'm going to try to play aggressive and play hard. I go off the 10th hole and I'm like, I like the driver. I pull-hooked it into the trees and I said, oh boy. I actually got up and down from like 70 yards (for par)."

It appeared this aggressive approach might not be a good idea, especially after having to produce some similar magic at the par-4 11th to escape another possible bogey. But after that, Na got on track with a birdie at the 12th and three more at Nos. 16-18 to go out in 31. The front nine was more of a challenge, but Na had only one bogey and three birdies to finish at 64.

What makes that number more amazing is the problem Na is having with his eyes. He had LASIK surgery to correct his poor vision a month ago. It worked well at first, but slowly it has gotten worse and worse, leaving him almost in the dark again.

"Right now, it's not very good," Na said. "I can't see balls land. On a sunny day like today it was nice, but overcast or late in the afternoon or early in the morning I have trouble seeing. I know, I just set up and I have (my caddie) line me up and he said, 'It looks good,' and I just pull the trigger."

Choi is producing his low numbers the more conventional way. He went 28 consecutive holes without a bogey before shooting a 5 at the par-4 second. He came back strong, however, with a birdie at the fifth, then three more to close his round at Nos. 7-9 to give him a comfortable cushion.

He was certainly feeling the love walking off the ninth hole.

"I'm really lucky to have those fans support me," Choi said of the enthusiastic galleries here. "Without their love and support, I don't think I would have been here now at this point. And just to know they're behind me, I feel like when I'm out there that we're winning, and that really gives me a lot of motivation."

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM K.J. Choi followed up his opening-round 64 with a 65 yesterday at the Sony Open in Hawaii for a two-stroke lead.